Fertilizers of natural or artificial origin include materials (other than lime materials) that are used for the soil or for plant tissue in order to provide one or more plant nutrients necessary for growth. Because the soil is deficient in many nutrients. If not, the use of fertilizer will be very useful. There are different types of natural and industrially produced fertilizers
There are many sources of fertilizers for plants, both natural and industrial.
At the end of the 20th century, with the increase in the use of nitrogen fertilizers (an 800% increase between 1961 and 2019), it has been one of the important components of increasing the productivity of conventional food systems (more than 30% per capita). According to the IPCC special report on water changes And air and land, these actions are the main cause of global warming.
History
Soil fertility management has been of interest to farmers for thousands of years. The Egyptians, Romans, Babylonians and early Germans are recorded using minerals or fertilizers to boost the productivity of their fields.
The modern science of plant nutrition began in the 19th century with the work of the German chemist Justus von Liebig, among others. In 1837, John Bennet Loses, an English entrepreneur, began to test the effects of different fertilizers on plants grown in pots, and a year or two later, he extended these experiments to crops in this field. One immediate consequence was that in 1842 he patented a fertilizer formed by treating phosphates with sulfuric acid, thus becoming the first to establish the synthetic fertilizer industry.
Fertilizer classification
Fertilizers are classified in several ways. They are based on whether they provide a single nutrient.
for example K, P or N), in which case they are classified as “direct fertilizers”.
Multi-nutrient fertilizers (or complex fertilizers) provide two or more nutrients, for example N and P. Fertilizers are also sometimes classified as inorganic versus organic. Mineral fertilizers, except urea, remove materials containing carbon.
Organic fertilizers are usually material (recycled plants) from plants or animals. Minerals are sometimes called synthetic fertilizers because different chemical treatments are needed to produce them.
Fertilizers alone (“direct”)
The main nitrogen-based fertilizer is ammonia or its solutions. Ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) is also widely used. Urea is another popular source of nitrogen and has the advantage of being solid and non-explosive, unlike ammonia and ammonium nitrate respectively. A few percent of the nitrogen fertilizer market (4% in 2007) is supplied by calcium ammonium nitrate (Ca(NO3)2 • NH4 • 10H2O).
The main direct phosphate fertilizers are superphosphates. “Single superphosphate” (SSP) contains 14-18% P2O5, again in the form of Ca(H2PO4)2, but also phosphogypsum (CaSO4 • 2H2O). Triple superphosphate (TSP) typically contains 44-48% of P2O5 and no gypsum. A mixture of single superphosphate and triple superphosphate is called double superphosphate. More than 90% of normal phosphate super fertilizers are water soluble.
The main direct potassium fertilizer is Muriate of Potash (MOP). Muriate of Potash consists of 95-99% KCl and is usually available as 0-0-60 or 0-0-62 fertilizer.
Nitrogen fertilizers
Nitrogen fertilizers are made from ammonia (NH3) by the Haber-Bosch process. In this energy-intensive process, natural gas (CH4) usually supplies the hydrogen and nitrogen (N2) is obtained from the air. This ammonia is used as a raw material for other nitrogen fertilizers, such as anhydrous ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) and urea (NH2).
Deposits of sodium nitrate NaNO3 (Chilean nitrate) are also found in the Atacama Desert in Chile and were one of the original nitrogen-rich fertilizers (1830) used. It is still mined for fertilizer. Nitrate is also produced from ammonia through the Ostwald process.
Phosphate fertilizers
Phosphate fertilizers are obtained by extracting from phosphate rock, which contains two main phosphorus minerals, fluorapatite Ca5 (PO4) 3F (CFA) and hydroxyapatite Ca5 (PO4) 3OH. These minerals are converted into water-soluble phosphate salts by mixing with sulfuric acids (H2SO4) or phosphoric acids (H3PO4). High production of sulfuric acid is primarily caused by this program. In the nitrophosphate process or Odeda process (invented in 1927), phosphate rock with up to 20% phosphorus (P) is dissolved with nitric acid (HNO3) to produce a mixture of phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and calcium nitrate (Ca). NO3) 2). This mixture can be combined with potassium fertilizer to make a compound fertilizer with three micronutrients N, P and K in an easily soluble form.
Potassium fertilizers
Potash is a mixture of potassium minerals that is used to prepare potassium fertilizers (chemical symbol: K). Potash is soluble in water, so the main effort to produce this nutrient from ore involves purification steps. For example, to omit sodium chloride NaCl (common salt) potassium is sometimes referred to as K2O, as a convenience for those describing potassium content. In fact, potassium fertilizers are usually potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, potassium carbonate or potassium nitrate.
Compound fertilizers
Compound fertilizers that contain N, P and K are often produced by mixing straight fertilizers. In some cases, chemical reactions occur between two or more components. For example, monoammonium and diammonium phosphates, which provide plants with N and P, are produced by neutralizing phosphoric acid (from phosphate rock) and ammonia.
Organic fertilizers
“Organic fertilizers” can recommend those fertilizers of organic-biological origin Fertilizers, that is, fertilizers made from living materials or materials that were already alive. Organic fertilizers can also describe products that are commercially packaged and frequently packaged and try to meet the expectations and limitations adopted by “organic agriculture” and “ecosystems” for horticulture and Produce plant products that significantly limit or strictly avoid the use of synthetic fertilizers. Organic fertilizer products usually contain some organic material as well as acceptable additives such as nutrient nutrient powders, ground marine shells (crabs, oysters, etc.), other prepared products such as seed meal or algae, and are cultivated. Microorganisms and derivatives.
Fertilizers of organic origin (first definition) include animal waste, plant waste from agriculture, compost and treated sewage sludge (biosolids). Beyond chemical fertilizers, animal sources can include products from animal slaughter – blood meal, bone meal, stuffed food, hides, sables and horns are all common components. Due to factors ranging from residual contaminants to public perception, industrially produced minerals, including sewage sludge, may not be acceptable components in organic agriculture and horticulture. Alternatively, marketed “organic fertilizers” may include and promote processed organics because the ingredients have consumer appeal. No matter which definition and composition we use, most of these products contain low nutrient concentrations and nutrients are not easily measured. They can offer soil-building benefits and also appeal to those trying to go more “natural” in the farm and garden.
By volume, peat is the most widely used organic soil amendment. It is a type of immature coal and improves the soil by aerating and absorbing water, but it has no nutritional value for plants. Therefore, it is not a fertilizer as defined at the beginning of the article, but an amendment. Coir, (derived from coconut shells), husks, and sawdust when added to soil all perform similarly (but not identically) to peat, and are also considered nutrient-limited. they become Some organic additives can have the opposite effect on nutrients – fresh organic soil can consume soil nutrients by breaking down, and may lower soil pH – but these same organic texture builders (as well as compost and… ) may increase the organisms by improving the food. Cation exchange, or by increasing the growth of microorganisms which, in turn, increases the uptake of certain plant nutrients. Organic fertilizers such as composts and chemical fertilizers may be distributed locally without entering the industrial production, which makes the actual amount of its consumption realistic.
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